This invention relates to a new and improved method and apparatus for use in handling newspapers in such a manner as to facilitate the delivery of newspapers to intended readers.
A known apparatus for use in collating identical newspapers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,296. The apparatus disclosed in this patent includes a collating conveyor assembly having a jacket feed station where jackets of newspapers are sequentially fed into upwardly opening pockets. Inserts are fed into each of the pockets in turn at a plurality of insert feed stations. Thus, as a pocket moves through each of the feed stations in turn, an insert is fed into the jacket at each of the feed stations Therefore, the completed newspapers include a jacket and an insert from each of the insert feed stations.
A similar apparatus for use in collating identical newspapers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,246. The apparatus disclosed in this patent is operable to compensate for the misfeed of an insert to a jacket of a newspaper during forming of the newspaper. Thus, if a feed station in this known apparatus fails to feed an insert to a pocket as the pocket moves through the feed station, the downstream feed stations are prevented from feeding inserts to the pocket to which the misfeed occurred. The newspaper jacket and any inserts in the pocket to which the misfeed occurred are not delivered at a delivery station but are again moved through the various feed stations. The feeding of inserts to the pockets to which the misfeed occurred is re-initiated with the feeding of the missed insert.
All of the newspapers formed with the apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned patents contain the same inserts. Therefore, any one of the newspapers can be delivered to any desired reader. This results in articles, advertising material and other printed matter being disseminated to all readers even though these materials will be of substantial interest to only some of the readers. If a newspaper is formed to contain materials which vary as a function of characteristics of the readers and indicia identifying the readers is printed on the newspapers, in the manner disclosed in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 662,355, filed Feb. 28, 1991 and of which this application is a continuation-in-part, provision must be made to deliver the newspapers to the intended readers along the delivery route.